


All Day

by Dvd_Dnsmr



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Best Friends, M/M, Shorm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 22:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14778656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dvd_Dnsmr/pseuds/Dvd_Dnsmr
Summary: Tobias and Ax spend a day enjoying each other's company





	All Day

Tobias woke up later than he’d intended. It had been a hard night, heavy rain had swept over the forest and he’d slept with his head tucked into his feathers. Normally the morning would be spent hunting and then trying to catch up on rest but there was no chance of that today, and Tobias barely minded.  
Ax had already begun his morning ritual by the time he saw the red tailed hawk approaching. He shouldn’t have noticed, the morning rituals were about focus. Ax was just too excited. Tobias was supposed to arrive earlier and perform the ritual as well but the rain had disturbed Ax’s sleep and he could only imagine what it would’ve been like for his shorm. Tobias landed and morphed into a copy of Ax. They became perfect mirrors of each other in the movements of the ritual and echoed the words in thoughtspeak that they had recited many times before.  
When the morning ritual was over the large mouthless Andalite smile, on Ax’s face was impossible to miss.  
{All day?} Even his thought speak voice dripped with joy.   
{All day} Tobias responded, noticing the unfamiliar excitement in his “voice” as well.

A few months ago Jake had the idea that two designated members of their group should always be on call. Over the last year or so each of them had become more and more on edge and having two people ready for whatever arose gave the other four release to attempt to relax. The days broke down to three eight hour shifts. For Ax and Tobias this had meant a bit more purpose being brought into their days, which was welcome, but it also meant less dedicated time together. Days like today, where neither was on call for the next 16 hours, were both rare and looked forward to.

Tobias’ andalite morph bounded through the forest. Running as an andalite was as close to flying as he felt on the ground. It was more graceful than a horse and more powerful than a deer, The extra eyes meant more visibility to see possible routes and obstacles, and the slender hooves reacted impossibly fast. After a few minutes Tobias didn’t even have to think about what he was doing or where he was going. This body knew all those things and swiftly carried him onwards.  
For a brief moment Ax was running beside him, but quickly he drew further ahead. Tobias tried to run faster and found that he was already quite spent. It had only been eight months since Tobias had absorbed Ax as a morph but in that time the real Ax had been fighting, running and training. At first they’d looked like twins but now they looked like brothers, Tobias being younger and lankier to Ax’s more muscular self.   
A passing thought caught Tobias’ chest. He lost the rhythm of his running and tripped over a log. Andalites, as graceful as they are when standing, are all the more awkward when they’ve fallen down. A few moments later Ax had circled back.  
{Are you alright?}  
{Yes, just...got a bit ambitious leaping.}  
With no serious injuries to his Andalite body, demorphing and remorphing wasn’t necessary. They continued on their way, finishing their run on the edge of a large field, beautiful in the morning light. Tobias felt the strangely pleasant sensation of eating grass through his hooves. No matter how often it happened, there seemed to be no getting used to it. The two shorm played and ran and enjoyed the field for another hour or so. Ax, the constant time keeper, announced when their two hours were nearly done.  
{Are you ready?}  
{Yes.}  
Together they began to change. For Tobias it was demorphing to his natural hawk form and for Ax it was morphing into an osprey. They were doing so in unison, from andalite to bird. Morphing this way brought a deep feeling of togetherness that both Tobias and Ax found fulfilling.

Before long both birds were riding the thermals over the forest. Tobias liked his solitude but Ax had a particularly quiet appreciation for being airborne. They spent an hour flying, eventually heading over the mall and towards a lesser visited part of town, landing in an alley behind the italian restaurant.  
Tobias got the bag of clothes they kept hidden from behind the dumpster while Ax finished morphing into his amalgamation of the six animorphs. The bag was proving hard to open, Tobias bit his nails when he was human, and they’d been bitten down to almost nothing when he had absorbed his past self. Getting frustrated he used his teeth to tear the tape off.  
It was around noon by the time the two, totally normal, teenage boys walked into the restaurant. The waiter seated them in their usual booth. Ax liked that it was close to the kitchen, Tobias liked that it was hard to be seen.   
The server brought out the first round of garlic bread. The only money Ax and Tobias had was what the other animorphs portioned off of their weekly allowances and Ax’s appetite made it necessary to go somewhere with endless bread. The first pieces disappeared as quickly as Ax’s hands could move. The boys had gained something of a reputation here and the waiter was quick to bring out a second order.  
The others didn’t know about this place. It was cheap, entirely out of the way and rarely busy during lunch. Tobias had been thinking about bringing Rachel here for a date but he was still a bit unsure if that was breaking the unspoken secrecy between him and Ax. It felt like this was their place, and having those outside the forest was rare. Also, going out for a meal together was still difficult. Tobias and Rachel were getting closer but Tobias he didn’t enjoy eating in front of her, in front of almost anyone really. Eating with Ax was different, mainly because he was so caught up with his own food that he didn’t notice Tobias but also...Ax never saw him as a human trapped as a bird. For the others, watching Tobias highlighted how different he had become from them and he felt that doing so in public brought out the strangeness all the more.  
“Tobiasss! The brread!! It’s even better than last timmme!”  
Tobias grabbed a piece and tore into it with his teeth. It wasn’t as nice as a hunted mouse but cheese and garlic weren’t the worst flavours. Ax had slowed enough to begin suggesting different menu items to split for their main course. Ten minutes and two more orders of bread later, they settled on eggplant parmigiana. Tobias had a little but it was almost entirely for Ax. Even in this more comfortable space, and with food he kind of enjoyed, too much flavour was unnerving to experience.  
Ax and Tobias paid the bill and went to the washroom together. The animorphs had gotten used to accompanying their alien friend after one too many instances of Ax eating pink hand soap.  
Their waiter smiled as they left and Tobias, not for the first time, considered what the staff here must have thought of the two of them. Did it look like he was taking care of Ax? Did it seem like something was wrong with both of them? He thought it shouldn’t matter but drawing too much attention could put an end to these sorts of outings. The smiles of the staff made his skin crawl when he thought too much about it, any of them could be yeerks.

Ten minutes later and Tobias and Ax were again high above the town. The midday sun was beating down on their wings. Tobias always found it funny watching Ax’s mood shift as he morphed. He was still excited but compared to his insatiable human form, it was like a different person.  
There were a few bags of clothes hidden in an abandoned house not too far from the mall. Unlike the alley, all of the animorphs used this drop point. After rifling through the other kids clothes Tobias found his t-shirt, jeans and old leather jacket. Ax had his sweater and khakis. The boys hurriedly made their way to the mall as they were running a bit behind.  
The screen was just finishing previews by the time Tobias and Ax came into the theater. Both of their arms were filled with snacks and the lights started to go down as they found seats. It took a bit of doing, the theater seemed much busier than usual at this time of day.  
The movie was neither amazing or terrible but it was certainly enjoyable. A romantic comedy with Tom Hanks. Ax had looked up which film was the shortest the day before. They chose based on the shortest runtime just in case anything went wrong and they struggled to find a place to demorph in time. This had lead to some interesting viewing. The only genre not allowed was horror. They only tried that once. Ax had been terrified at the brutality that humans imagined inflicting upon one another.  
The snacks lasted longer than the other animorphs might have expected. Ax only cried out about chocolate globules a few times. Ax and Tobias had discovered that a large meal beforehand helped the young andalite’s control to stay “decent” in public. With his appetite somewhat curbed it took a whole half an hour for Ax to work through all the snacks they could carry. It was still more than any person should be able to eat but it was enough to stop him stealing or searching on the floor for more. With his mouth free Ax talked quite a bit, asking questions and telling jokes. He wasn’t at full volume but loud enough to be noticed. Tobias didn’t mind and usually the theater was close to empty. This time Tobias could hear a few people grumbling in annoyance. It was distracting. He usually loved the movie portion of these days best, watching the screen and forgetting himself. Now he was hyperaware, feeling watched. He was waiting for someone to say something to Ax, unsure of how he would respond, unsure of whether he’d have to act.  
{Ax, maybe if you want to talk do it through thought speak?}  
{Oh, yes of course.}  
Tobias kept trying to return to watching the movie but it seemed he missed some key information and couldn’t make sense of what was happening.  
{I’m going to step out for a bit}  
{Are you alright?}  
Tobias could hear the concern and slight alarm in Ax’s “voice”  
{Yeah, just need to use the washroom. Tell me what happens when I get back.}  
Tobias knew his leaving was in no way out of the ordinary and that everyone was watching the screen but it felt like all eyes were on him as he hurried out of the theater. The bathroom was just a couple stalls and luckily no one was in there. Tobias leaned over the sink and tried splashing cold water on his face to calm himself down. He was thinking about demorphing in one of the stalls when the door opened. It was Marco.  
“Heeey, funny running into you”  
“What are you doing here?”  
Marco looked uncharacteristically sheepish for a moment  
“We’re watching the same movie. I saw you leaving and you looked kinda spooked running out of the theater, just wanted to make sure you were doing okay”  
It had been over a year but Tobias could still be surprised by how kind Marco could be towards him.  
“Yeah, I’m okay. Shouldn’t you be in school?”  
“There’s a big game at a school out of town, enough people went to cheer them on that last period was cancelled.”  
“Oh.”  
There was a beat of silence. Tobias tried to smile.  
“Didn’t picture you as a Tom Hanks fan.”  
“Oh yeah, really makes me swoon. I didn’t pick the movie. Is Ax here? I thought I heard the word globules.”  
“Yeah, he keeps asking why Sandra Bullock is interested in Tom Hanks’ character when they have such different lives.”  
Marco smiled and opened his mouth to say something but seemed to be holding himself back  
“Tell him I say what’s up, I’d chat afterwards but you know the whole-”  
Marco looked around as if anyone could be listening  
“-secret friends thing.”  
Tobias tried to smile politely. Marco moved to leave.  
“Come on hawkboy, don’t want to miss the big finish”

Tobias went in to find his seat, Ax quickly caught him up on what he’d missed. The rest of the movie was pretty good and he was able to focus again. At the end of the movie Tom Hanks kissed Sandra Bullock on top of a skyscraper.  
The lights came up and people began filing out. Tobias and Ax picked up the candy wrappers, the only remaining evidence of Ax’s feast that were scattered around the floor. The theater was almost empty as they were putting on their coats.  
{Is that Marco?}  
{Yeah, I saw him in the washroom. School was out early for a bunch of kids.}  
{Who is the girl Marco is with?}  
Tobias looked again, Marco seemed to be in a group of six kids but he was only really talking to one girl with short red hair.  
{Oh. I don’t know.}  
Ax’s movements and speech were getting increasingly rigid as they prepared to leave the theater. He didn’t seem to want to talk about the movie anymore. He did still attempt to lick the chocolate off of a few wrappers.

Ax was nearly silent on the way back to his scoop. Tobias asked some questions and Ax’s responded politely but shortly, his “voice” felt quiet. Normally Tobias liked when they shared the quiet together but this felt different, loaded, and he didn’t know what to say to his friend. They had never really talked about Marco but Tobias saw the signs, even if they were a bit foreign to him. Ax had his stalks pointed at Marco more than the others, would stand next to him when they were in a group and he just...looked happier when they were together.  
Tobias and Ax arrived back at the scoop. Ax landed on the ground and began demorphing. After spending a whole day morphing together Tobias felt a bit strange to be different species at the end, but it also fet fitting as they parted. He’d normally have just kept flying but the last hour had given Tobias an urge to see Ax returned home.  
{Did you have a good day?}  
{Yes, I did Tobias. Thank you. I look forward to when we can do this again}  
{Me too, goodnight Ax}  
{Goodnight Tobias}  
Tobias moved to fly away.  
{Wait.}  
There was a pause of a few seconds. Ax’s hands were fidgeting. He couldn’t meet Tobias’ gaze.  
{Do you think…}  
Another pause. After a few seconds Ax closed his eyes. Slowly his face and eye stalks turned up to quietly look at the evening sky.  
{I miss the Andalite homeworld, I miss my family, but if...when my people arrive I do not know what will happen to me. To any of us. All of this life here, days like today...I don’t know what happens next but I fear it will not last.}  
Tobias knew he was right. The others sometimes mentioned that their fight was just to wait out the arrival of the andalites, that when they came it would all be over. With each passing week it felt like they believed it less and less. Even if that could be true for Jake, Cassie, Marco and Rachel, there was no such thing as going back for him and Ax.  
{I know what Jake would say. He’d say that whatever happens we’ll figure it out together when the time comes.}  
Ax’s eyestalks swiveled to regard him.  
{Yes. Prince Jake would say that, but that’s not what you would say}  
{What would I say?}  
A mouthless smile appeared on Ax’s face.  
{Not much.}  
Ax looked back at the stars. Tobias knew the conversation could end here if he let it.  
{I get scared about that stuff too. I hate the fighting but the longer this goes on the longer I don’t have to make a decision.}  
Ax’s whole body faced him now  
{What decision do you mean?}  
{Who I am. If...if I’m a bird then I’m a bird and then I can still morph and fight and enjoy myself this way. If I want to be human it’d mean giving all of that up. Rachel and the others are already a year older than the morph of my past self. When all of this is over, I’d be in a body as young as I was when it started. I feel like I’m losing time, and I already don’t have enough. Red tailed hawks have a fifth the lifespan of humans. At what point do I tap out? At what point do I have to choose?}  
Tobias felt exposed, so much of him wanted to fly away. Ax came over and gently put his hand on his friend.  
{I don’t know Tobias.}  
All of Ax’s eyes were focused on Tobias’ face. He felt himself grow calm.  
{I do know, regardless of how things change and what you decide, as long as you and I live there will always be space for you to live beside me.}  
{Thank you Ax.}  
The two friends stayed in that moment a good while longer. They were both tired and both comfortable, together in the silence. Eventually Tobias fell asleep above Ax’s scoop. Ax stayed up, staring at the stars, thinking of the home he had lost and the one he had found.


End file.
